Eleniel
by augureyclaw
Summary: The last thing India expected was for an elf lord to appear in her wardrobe and turn her life upside down. Elladan/OC.
1. Monday Night

**I. Monday Night**

* * *

The moonlight hit the mahogany wood making it shine and glow in the way that only a metal usually could. It was an old wardrobe yet surprisingly sturdy and intact for it's many years. It had been India's grandfather's once, an heirloom he had told her that had been passed down for generations. _Now it was hers._

To her the wardrobe was more than just a wardrobe - it had been her childhood. Every summer she spent in her grandfather's house she would play in that wardrobe. _It's magical,_ he had told her, running a hand over the strange deeply set symbols that were engraved into it's wood. In her childish stupor she had believed his every word. She had never believed in Santa Claus, but she had believed in that wardrobe. India was eighteen now, far too old for magic, but after her grandfather's death it had wound up in her tiny little student flat ,the one she was currently sat in now - and she was about to learn in a very unexpected way that were was a truth to her grandfather's words, to magical wardrobes.

She reclined on her bed, laptop on her knee typing away furiously trying to finish a report she had been putting of for far too long. She always left things to the last minute, she seemed to be more efficient with a sense of urgency within her. She was so preoccupied in typing that she didn't notice the moonlight seep into the little symbols, filling them with light. However she did hear the bang and the sound of her clothes hangers clinking together and her body froze with fright.

She carefully set her laptop aside, joints stiff in apprehension. A thousand thoughts flew through her mind in that moment, was this some intruder who had broken into her dingy little student flat and hid in her wardrobe? Her brother playing a cruel prank? India hoped dearly for the latter. She watched intently as the wardrobe door handle turned around and she grasped the phone in her hand ready to dial for help if it did turn out to be the former.

Then she saw him, all six foot of him and she felt her jaw drop. He had dark hair, tied back into a ponytail with a braid running through it. His frame while lean, bulged with muscle and his skin was alabaster white, shimmering all to perfectly under the influence of the moonlight that streamed in through her open window. He was handsome, unnaturally so but that wasn't all that was different about him, there was a point to his ears, a sharp, distinct and unnatural point.

"What on earth!" She exclaimed gawping at him. The phone was still in her grasp but she was too paralyzed in shock in that moment to think about typing in those three numbers. The dark-haired intruder's gaze fell upon her and she noticed that he looked just as shocked as she must have. His eyes were wide like that of a deer in headlights. "Who are you and what are you doing in my wardrobe!"

He turned to look at her wardrobe, running a hand over the strange symbols in a state of shock. It was then she noticed what he was wearing, the leggings, the tunic _, the belt with a rather real looking sword poking out.._ He looked like he had just come from a medieval faire - that or he was some serial killer with a penchant for the dramatic. "This is your wardrobe?" He spoke, voice light.

"Yes. Now can you please tell me how you came to be in it before I call the police." Her voice was a higher pitch and his brows seem to rise with her tone.

He seemed to ignore her question and studied the wardrobe some more, running a hand down the symbols. "These are moon runes… in ancient dwarvish. This is old magic… very old." He sighed, his nimble fingers feeling the wood.

A sane person might have phoned the police then, but India for some reason did not, she simply continued to gawp at the man who had just come out from her wardrobe. "Is… is that a real sword?" She pointed to the weapon.

"Most certainly. I would see no cause to carry around a fake one." He spoke almost bewildered, he seemed to notice she was frightened however and his expression softened. "Ah… this is old magic indeed. This wardrobe is inscribed with a strong enchantment that is awakened under the light of a certain moon. There is one identical to this back in the Homely House and the magic binds them together, a portal of sorts. It's marvelous… but rather inconvenient and frightening for you I expect, to have a man simply stumble out of your wardrobe."

Her brow crinkled and for a moment she desired very much to know what her intruder had been smoking to come up with the nonsense he had just spouted.

"Excuse me?" Was the only words she could find.

"I'm sorry if I have bombarded you with information." He chuckled, finally removing his gaze from the wardrobe and turning to study her. "My name is Elladan, son Elrond. I shall be out of your hair very shortly, but pray first tell me which way I go to get to Imladris, or Rivendell in the common tongue."

"I… could...ugh...I could look google maps?" She suggested numbly, she was eager to have him out of her room but not so eager to explain the whole situation to the police. The pointy-eared intruder seemed to nod hopefully.

"Google? I have not heard of a cartographer by that name." Elladan spoke numbly as a still shaken India reached for her mobile and pulled up google maps, only to find that Rivendell was most certainly not a place on her version of planet earth. "What in valar's name is that? What is that magic?"

"You're kidding right?" She realized he was looking at her phone in utter shock. Something clicked in her in that moment. "Oh very funny are you one of Buddy's friends? I know he put you up to this, how long were you hiding?"

This was surely her brother pranking her, she was convinced of it, then she saw the puzzled expression on Elladan's face and she started to doubt that truth. "I know not of what you speak." He shrugged. He looked around her room at the pink walls and fairy lights. "This place looks strange to me… _foreign."_

"What year are you from?" She asked, some childish part of her returning to the fantasy of the magic wardrobe her grandfather had sold to her so very well as a child. He looked very much a medieval sort of man.

"Tis the year 2967, the fourth age the scholars call it… " Elladan's voice was misty and India's brow was so deep she could feel the hair of her eyebrows tickle her eyelids. She watched him pull at her fairy light curiously. "You have heard of Rivendell, of the last homely house in Middle Earth. Even mortals know that place. It is quite famous." He noted her befuddlement. "Hmm.."

"I'm India. I'm from England, not Middle Earth. I have never heard of Rivendell. I know nothing of magic teleporting wardrobes, or ancient dwarf enchantments that are activated by a certain moon and more than that, I think you're crazy." Her voice seemed to cut him. "You are in the 21st century. This is a mobile phone. This is a fairy light powered by a thing called electricity not magic."

She shoved the fairy lights and her mobile phone to the bed and his eyes widened. "I think I may be very far from home." He said, rather sadly.

A moment of silence passed and India found herself considering that this Elladan was telling the truth about Rivendell and...magic wardrobes. She was crazy. Extremely crazy but she was starting to believe him.

"My head hurts." India put her hands on her head. Just ten minutes ago she was working on a report late and night, now she was considering the very fabric of her existence and the nature of the time continuum. "I suppose you're going to tell me now that those points to your ears are because you're an elf?"

"Yes..why of course, do you not have elves here?" His eyebrows rose again, those strong fierce eyebrows that were so terribly thick they would put Cara Delevigne's to utter shame. She shook her head as the "elf" studied her intently with unblinking eyes "Oh… I expect I'm quite the surprise then?"

"More than a little Elladan." India was breathless for a moment. "Could it be that you are from a different world from mine? For I have never seen a man like you."

"I think… I think this is more than just a portal from one place to the next, but a portal between worlds. My adar would know more of it than I… he is more of a scholar." Elladan sighed. "But he is not here, and my wits alone cannot solve this."

"Then can't you just go back through it, if it's a portal it works both ways right?" India suggested rather hopefully, but Elladan simply shrugged. Magic wardrobe wasn't magic enough now for him it seemed.

"Nay, but oh how I wish it were that simple as I said before this magic is only awoken under a certain moonlight and the hour of the moon that brought me here has passed. It could be decades before that same moon glows in the sky."

"So you're stuck here indefinitely?"

"It would seem that way. Aye. I think I'm stuck here."

India was silent again. She looked at him a little jaw-struck, he was sat on her bed, sword in his belt, confused look in his eyebrow deepened eyes. If you had asked her a week ago that she would be spending her Monday night with an elf from another world she would have laughed and pointed you to David Lynch to sell the rights to a new movie. "Where will you go?" She finally asked.

"I know not, but I shall work it out." He spoke numbly. "If you could point me in the direction of an inn or perhaps a nice tavern I would be grateful."

"I have a couch." What was she doing. She tried to stop the words from coming but they were moving from her mouth automatically. Was she going to offer her home intruder a place to stay? "And blankets. It's not much."

"India… you would let me stay with you?" He seemed taken aback at the offer. "Such kindness. Kindness I dare not ask for."

"It's not forever, just till you work something out."

Monday night: Her grandfather was right about the magic wardrobe after all and she had just invited a handsome elven home invader to stay with her indefinitely.

What could go wrong?

Answer: _A whole lot._

* * *

Elladan could still recall it perfectly, how he had been in his father's study when the old wardrobe in the corner of the room had started to glow when the moonlight caught it. Curiosity had got the better of him and he had investigated, stepping within it in some odd childish compulsion. Now he was here, in some poor girl's home, sat on her uncomfortable couch watching two grown women tear out each other's hair in what he could only describe as a moving painting.

India had vanished into a spare room in an attempt to recover him something to wear that, _as she had put it_ , did not make him resemble an extra from something called "Game of Thrones". Her words confused him, yet it struck him that since he had stumbled out of that valar-forsaken wardrobe and into her strange world he had never been without that feeling. India returned from the room with an odd looking outfit in her grasp. A pair of rough bluish trousers that were ripped and frayed almost as if the tailor had taken a pair of sheers to them in madness.

"Here. These belong to my brother, he left them here a while back and forgot to pick them up." India handed them over to him. He stared at them a little scornfully, thinking that he would look quite ridiculous in the tattered trousers. "They may be a little small for you, but they'll do for now."

India gave him some privacy to change. He slipped into the jeans and he noticed immediately that they were far too short for him, the waist however was a little too big. The t-shirt fit a little better, but was a little tight around his broad shoulders. He emerged and India smiled at him meekly and he tried to return the smile but found himself unable - he wanted to go home, to his brother, to his sister, to his father, but at this moment in time, he saw no way to get there.

He sat next to the girl on the sofa. He noted that she was pretty for a mortal, while her features were plain as most mortals were she had rather beautiful green eyes that had struck him the moment he had looked upon her. She had blonde hair, not gold like his grandmother's or silver like his mother's, but a dirtier and warmer sort of blonde that was flecked with strands of caramel.

He turned his attention back on the moving painting. India reached for a strange shaped device and pressed a button - all of a sudden there was sound. He could no longer just see the women tearing out each other's hair out but he could also now hear their gasps of pain. India seemed to note the crease of his brow and a soft smile touched her features. "This is a television." She told him. She then proceeded to explain to him the intricacies of what a TV was and how it worked, but Elladan would be lying if he said it hadn't confused him.

"So you truly have no estimate as to how long you will be here for?" She questioned and it was then Elladan felt emptiness spread through him. He had no measure of time, no way of counting down the days till he would return to his life and family. It could be next week, or it could be in ten years.

"As I said before. It could be many years, a decade even. It has to be the exact same conditions, the positions of the stars, everything." India looked sympathetic toward him, and she flicked a button on what she called a "remote" and suddenly the moving picture had changed to a female singer. The voice that came from her mouth was loud and it stung his ears. He covered them with his hands.

"This is X Factor. It's a singing competition, It's pretty hilarious isn't it?" India looked to Elladan, humour lightened her features. He watched it intently, wondering why a girl crying after humiliating herself for all to see was considered entertainment - then the judge at the end with the black hair had compared her voice to that of a cat being skinned alive and Elladan had realized very quickly that it was quite hilarious as India had said. He might have even cracked a smile if his soul had not felt so heavy.

It soon ended and the silence consumed the both of them. The morning sun bled through the gaps in the blinds and it struck Elladan that he was now facing his first day in India's world. "Do you want eggs for breakfast?" She asked him.

Eggs. He felt his chest heave a sigh of relief. At least their world's had something in common. "Eggs. Yes I like Eggs." He smiled at her meekly.

"I only have chicken eggs. I don't know what kind of eggs you elves eat but I'm just warning you that we don't have dragons eggs." She half snorted, drawing to her feet and heading into the kitchen. Like a lost puppy Elladan trailed after her.

"We don't eat dragons eggs." He chuckled to himself, watching in fascination as India withdrew a few chicken eggs from a cold white plastic box. "No, no, dragons eggs are much too large and in addition to that extremely rare."

She plopped the eggs into a boiling hot container of water and sat herself up on the bunker. Elladan gazed at her, at loss as to what to do. "So my world is pretty different from yours then?" She spoke to break the silence.

"From what little I have seen, most certainly."

"I'll teach you about it, you can be my project. " She laughed "It wouldn't be right to send you out on the street without knowing about google and cell phones. Maybe we can even find you a job one day until you get to go home."

"That's very kind of you. I wish I had some way to repay you."

"I'm sure I'll find a way for you to repay me… you could help me around the flat a bit, maybe do some dishes laundry…" She drifted off and he stopped listening somewhere along the way. "So what kind of job did you do back in the Rivendell?"

"Me and my twin brother Elrohir travel with the Dúnedain hunting orcs quite frequently, when we're not doing that, well, we usually just relax at home."

"So you're good at murder and doing nothing, and those are your only marketable skills?" She chuckled a bit as she plopped the eggs onto plate and began to peel them with her nimble fingers. "We're going to have to do some lying on your CV."

Elladan had no clue as to what as CV was, but he couldn't be bothered questioning her. He took the plate from her grasp and she guided him back through to the sitting room. She plonked herself on the sofa and began to eat. Elladan stood bewildered with his plate in his hands. Were there no tables?

"What are you standing there for pointy-ears? Sit down, we might be able to catch another re-run of the X-Factor." India called out to him.

"But… I… Yes." Elladan finally sat down. "It's just I'm accustomed to breaking my fast at a table, with… metal cutlery. This is rather strange."

He examined his plastic fork in disdain. It was bendy and not nearly strong enough to hold his egg. India seemed to ignore his comments and she slipped her feet up onto the footrest and settled her eyes on X-factor. Her posture was slouched, another common trait of mortals. Elladan wanted nothing more than to reach over and bend her spine into a more healthy position - of course he withheld that urge, such an action might have been seen as an assault and this was the girl who had offered him a place to stay after all. _He couldn't offend her._

After an hour or so of X-factor Elladan felt a little cheerier however there was still a hollowness inside of him. He wanted Elrohir - they had never been separated before and he felt almost like a part of him had been torn out. If Elrohir was with him he would have known what to do, he was the smarter one _, the reasonable one._ Elladan had always relied on him, looking back through his life in fact, he had always relied on someone else, his mother, his father, his brother.

 _Now he was relying on India._


	2. Cold Callers

**II. Cold Callers**

* * *

A morose Lord Elrond stood in his study gazing at the wardrobe. It was a beautiful thing which was strange for something of dwarven make. He had found it at the travelling market a few years back and he had been drawn to it for some strange reason, and he had bought it under that thinking, a fair penny for such a thing, but he had not doubted it's worth then. Now he was suffering from extreme buyer's regret.

"Ah yes. This is ancient magic indeed. I'm surprised you didn't not see it yourself Lord Elrond?" Gandalf ran his hands over the ancient dwarven symbols and Elrond frowned. He had read the symbols. _From here to there I will take you_ , _to shores unknown and mountains foreign, under the light of the moon under which I was made._ He had thought those words some riddle that he had neither the time or the will to decipher - he had paid them no mind but how wrong he had been in doing so. Now he had lost his son, perhaps forever.

"I paid them no mind, put no weight to the words. Folly I was in doing so." He sighed falling to his seat. He looked to his son Elrohir, who was stood running a hand down the wood of the wardrobe, sadness and confusion gleaming in his eyes. He saw so much of himself in Elrohir then, a twin without his other half.

"I don't understand, where is he?" Elrohir looked to Mithrandir.

"It is a portal of sorts. Our dear Elladan has crossed through it." Gandalf explained coolly. Elrohir looked confused and turned to look at his father, whose sorrow-filled expression did not fill him with comfort. "Where he is, I would not know exactly, but the runes seem to suggest…"

"Shores unknown, mountains foreign." Elrond interrupted the old wizard with a fractured voice. "I know what the runes suggest Mithrandir. He is very far from home, further than any of us can ever contemplate reaching."

"There are legends, legends of different worlds and different realities. It is possible that this wardrobe connects us to one of these worlds or realities Elrohir, serves as a link between one place to another, in which case..." Gandalf drifted off, a look of sympathy growing on his old wrinkled face.

"In which case it is very possible that your brother has been sundered from us forever." Elrond finished the sentence, every word a struggled sigh. Elrohir was still for a moment, having been struck with a life-altering blow. His jaw hung low and his eyes filled with something alike to tears. Elrond winced at the sight.

"The portal will open again Lord Elrond you need not be so pessimistic, the same moon will shine again one day and if your son has any wits about him he will be there to cross back through." Gandalf reached out and patted Elrohir across the back. "Your brother is not yet lost. There is hope yet."

Except Elrond had long since learned to never trust in hope.

* * *

A week had passed since Elladan's arrival and India was struggling to acquaint him with the ways of her world. It wasn't that he was stupid, but just slow to learn. It had taken an entire day just to explain how to use a kettle and even now she wasn't convinced he understood properly. She'd found him stood in front of it the other day perplexed as to why it wasn't working, not noticing that the plug was detached. He spent much of his days in front of the television watching reruns of X-factor and perhaps more disturbingly, Spongebob Squarepants, that combined with the kettle incident had left her feeling like she was his babysitter.

"We're going out today." India announced plopping herself down on the sofa next to Elladan. He tore his attention away from Spongebob and looked at her questioningly. "You need more clothes. You've been wearing the same jeans for an entire week. I'm going to take you to a clothes shop."

Elladan hadn't left her flat yet, and it struck her that while he was by now well-acquainted with the world of Bikini Bottom he was utterly clueless about the world outside her window. "What if someone notices that I'm different?"

"Come here." She gestured him over. He scooted closer to her on the sofa and flinched a little as she pulled his head downwards so that he was eye level. She then proceeded to pull an elastic band out of her hair and tie it around his. She noticed that he seemed to trust her despite his initial flinch. When she released him his hair was tight around his scalp and she watched him run a hand across the bun on his head. "Man buns are trendy. You look the part now."

"A man bun?" He looked at her with squint brows. He ran a finger over the point of his ears. "But my ears? No one on X-factor has pointy ears…"

India reached out again and pulled a small bit of his hair down to the cover the points. She smiled at him brightly. _He looked the part now,_ the man bun, the far too short jeans, she had fashioned him into a hipster. She laughed to herself and Elladan's brows squinted even further. "Come on pointy ears."

She led him out of the flat, he trailed behind her, sometimes pausing and gazing wide-eyed around at this world that was foreign to him. She urged him along and felt less of a babysitter and more of a dog-walker. "How are we getting to these… clothes shops… do you have horses?" He questioned.

"Nope. No. horses." She laughed, running a hand through her blonde hair that was now about her shoulders in the absence of a hair tie. She reached the parking lot and pointed at her tiny little Blue Ford. "I have something better."

She opened the door and stuck her keys into the ignition. Elladan slowly took his seat in the passenger's side, watching in wonder as she slipped on her seat belt. She reached over and did his for him - not wanting to spend ten minutes instructing him on how to do it himself. "This is a car. It's like a horse, but it's quicker and it doesn't need to take breaks." She explained.

The engine roared to life and the elf nearly flew out of his skin. She smiled and she saw that this seemed to have a calming effect on him. "I don't like this."

"It'll take some getting used to." She told him softly as she pulled out of the car park. Elladan spent much of the journey clutching at his knees and staring a hole through the window. "We're nearly there, not much farther to go."

"I'd rather a horse. Can we get a horse for the way back?" He asked and she laughed at his innocent remark.

"No. No. I'm afraid we can't. No horses." He frowned.

She parked her car a few metres from the discount clothes shop and guided a shaken Elladan out of the passenger's seat. They walked side by side into the shop, his six foot frame dwarfing her measly five foot three build. When he entered the store his eyes grew wider. "I don't like these clothes."

"You aren't paying for them Elladan." India knocked his shoulder and headed over to a rack full of shirts. They weren't the trendiest of garments, but it struck India that Elladan was handsome enough to pull of anything. She wondered if incredible good looks were part of being an elf or if Elladan was just very fortunate. "These are nice. What colour do you like? I think the green."

"Nay, I'll wear nothing of green, 'tis the colour of Mirkwood and I am from Rivendell. I prefer the blue." He explained. India rolled her eyes and slipped the jade green shirt back on the rack and dropped a blue one into the basket instead.

" _Blue it is then._ " She narrowed her eyes. They wandered the shop for a good half an hour before India was satisfied that Elladan had a sufficient wardrobe. She couldn't afford the clothes in truth but she felt a compulsion to help Elladan, to be selfless, a trait that she had always admired in others. She expected however that she would soon come to regret that selflessness when faced with the horrible reality that she could no longer afford netflix. "Let's go home."

"I don't have a home. Not here." Elladan had replied in sad voice and India felt her heart break for him. She couldn't give him his home, clothes, eggs, lessons on kettles, all of this she could give, but never a home.

The car journey back had went a lot better. While Elladan still looked frightened, he no longer clutched at his knees and had even taken a moment to admire the scenery as they passed by. A small milestone. "It's not so bad is it?"

"I'd prefer a horse. On the back of my stallion, Beleg, I felt at one with the wind." The elf spoke, eyes glazing over as if entranced in a dream. "I expect it shall be a while before I ride upon his back again. _A long while."_

When she got back home. India made a start on dinner and by that she meant called for a pizza. It arrived quickly and before long she found herself sat watching Spongebob as Elladan stared mistified by the cheese-covered piece of deliciousness. "I have never had a pizza before."

"I didn't think you would have. We'll have a Chinese tomorrow night and an Indian after that. I'll see to it that you've sampled all of this world's delicacies before you have to go home." She laughed, thrusting a slice of pizza into his hands. He seemed to almost miss his plastic cutlery as he hesitantly pushed it to his lips. He took a bite and seemed to be in love. "Good huh?"

"Mhmm… I must have the recipe to take back home." Elladan took another slice and India wondered if she had created a monster. "We have lembas in Rivendell - _elvish bread_. It tastes rather bland but one bite fills you entirely,"

"Wait so let me get this straight. You get all the calories without the pleasure of eating. That sounds horrible." India chuckled. "Pizza is better."

"Yes. Food may be the one thing you mortals have on my people." Elladan chuckled, going in for his fourth slice. By the time he was finished India had been left with only three slices. She made note to buy two the next time. _The next time,_ Elladan had become a part of her future and she wondered for how long.

She pushed that thought aside opting to take each day as it came. Just as she was settling down to enjoy Spongebob with Elladan, the doorbell rang. She remained still and Elladan turned around looking at her with a bemused look in his eye.

"Aren't you going to answer it?"

"Nope. It's probably just a cold caller." She shook her head.

"If they are cold shouldn't we at least offer them a blanket?" Innocence dripped from Elladan's tongue and India let out a small laugh.

"It's not - you know what it doesn't matter." India rolled her eyes. Elladan dropped the argument and focused his attention on the television. India was about to do the same when the doorbell rang again followed by a familiar voice.

"India, It's me. Buddy. Open the door before I blast it open." Her brother's far too high-pitched voice shouted, India felt a groan rise within her.

"Blast it with what? You left your gun in Call of Duty." India pushed open the door to reveal her older brother, Buddy. Though he was two years her senior it often did not feel that way, their father had affectionately dubbed him Peter Pan due to his inability to grow up and India had always appreciated her father's brutal truths.

"I came to pick up those clothes I left." He pushed his way inside, eyes falling on Elladan and promptly widening. "Who on earth is he?"

 _"A long story."_ Were the only words India could find to explain.

* * *

"So let me get this straight, pointy-ears here fell out of that old darn wardrobe of old Bertie's which is now not actually a wardrobe but a portal to another world." Elladan watched as the mortal named Buddy spoke incredulously. "And father thinks I'm the only one who smokes weed in this family?"

"It's the truth." India cemented. Buddy staring at her curiously "Do you think I would let him stay here with me if I wasn't a hundred percent sure?"

"No… but Indie… this is crazy."

"Old Bertie always said that the wardrobe was magic, don't you remember his stories Buddy? Of different worlds with different mountains." India sighed and Elladan watched her intently. "I don't need you to believe me Buddy. I just need you to keep this quiet from mum and dad. That's all."

"I'll keep quiet. If they caught wind of you letting a home invader sleep on the couch because you think he's from narnia, they might have you sectioned and I don't want to have my sister in a mental hospital." Buddy chuckled, making India frown scornfully. "Who'd do my washing then?"

Elladan looked at Buddy. He looked a little like India but not enough that he would have instantly recognized them as siblings. The man had hair of a lighter blonde and though his eyes were green, they were not half as bright as his sister's. The was a pregnant pause before Elladan opened his mouth to speak.

" _I'm not from Narnia."_

* * *

 _Thanks for the reviews! This one is a little shorter, but all the chapters are going to vary a bit in size just depending on where it feels natural to end things. Thanks for reading and please review, They make my day and help motivate me! :D_


	3. Video Games

**III. Video Games**

* * *

Elladan had always thought of himself as a chameleon, someone who could adapt perfectly to his surroundings. To the boring halls of Rivendell, to the peak of Caradhras, to the darkened depths of the forest of Mirkwood, he had survived it all, but Buddy's house was something of a different magnitude, a deeper sort of hell. India was at a lecture and had insisted that he go over to Buddy's for a while to get out of the flat for a bit as she was worried he was becoming far to infatuated with television. That was how he found himself sat in a darkened room on a dusty sofa crammed between piles of smelly clothes and empty pizza boxes, wondering how a living soul could reside in such a place without turning mad.

"So elf-boy. Do you want to play some Call of Duty?" Buddy hurled himself over the couch, landing in a pile of accumulated junk. He had two cans of beer in his hand and he clipped them open with a well-trained motion, handing one to Elladan and keeping the other for himself. He noted the puzzlement on the elf's face and his brows squinted as the realization dawned on him. "You don't have COD in Elfville do you?"

"No… No we don't have that in Rivendell." Elladan answered, taking a short sip of the beer. He likened it's taste to what mortals referred to as mead back home, he had never much liked mead, it was far too bland for his tongue which was used to the bitter-sweet taste of elvish wine.

"What do you do for fun then?" Buddy looked puzzled.

Elladan tried to think. What did he do for fun? As a child he and Elrohir had pretended to have sword fights in the corridors, they had hid from eachother and come up with a thousand different little games to ease the slow passage of time, but as they had grown they had left all of that behind. Elladan couldn't recall ever having fun in a long while - his notion of a good day was twenty dead orcs.

"I… I don't really have fun." Elladan answered honestly. Buddy looked at him wide-eyed for a moment and Elladan felt the need to explain himself further to the confused mortal. "My life isn't about having fun. It stopped being about that a long while ago."

All enjoyment had been sucked from his life when he had found his mother covered head to foot in cuts, shivering, crying and pleading for a merciful end after a month's torture at the hands of orcs. That had been the sight that had changed his outlook on life so irrevocably and it was that sight that had given him a new purpose - vengeance. Until he had fallen out of that wardrobe vengeance had been all he had thought about, now, now he thought about toasters and kettles and more recently apparently something called Call of Duty.

"So I'm going to have to teach you then." Buddy rolled his eyes. He reached down to the stained coffee table and picked up a plastic controller, proceeding to thrust it into Elladan's grip. The elf held it there studying it intently. "I didn't believe India at first about you being an elf from a different world. I thought she was crazy."

"And you don't now?" Elladan watched as the mortal leant in front of the tv and pressed the switch on some device underneath it.

"You can't feign that look on your face right now - that look of not understanding anything, like me picking up one of India's fancy psychology books." Buddy chuckled. Elladan didn't know whether to be insulted or glad that the mortal now did not think him a liar. He simply frowned lightly. "Now, this is how I have fun, this is my Xbox 360 and like that wardrobe you fell out of it can take someone to a different world - a different reality."

Elladan wondered if this Xbox 360 could take him home, to the comforting warmth of his father's halls and the soothing sounds of the waterfalls hitting the rocks beneath. Somehow he highly doubted it. The TV screen filled with colour and he watched it entranced.

An hour passed and Elladan did find himself in a different world - a world of fighting, blood and twelve year old boys questioning the size of his penis. "You would leave your world to come to a world like this, a world torn by war where murder is a necessary evil?"

"It's fun. Look, unless we join the army most of us never see war. It's exciting and with a boring life like mine well - you need excitement." Buddy looked sad for a moment. Elladan took a well-placed shot and the mortal cheered up a little. "Dang, head shot nice, you're pretty good at this you know, I can hardly believe this is your first time."

"It's my first time playing Call of Duty, but it's not my first time killing." Elladan admitted, dropping the controller and allowing his character to be shot in the head. Buddy's eyebrows rose. "Back home, there are many evil things and we are at constant war. I've killed and I've enjoyed it, but that world, that world of war and suffering isn't one you should dream of entering. It's not a dream, it's nightmare."

"You'd probably prefer a Wii." Buddy brushed him off. "Look I know war is horrible thing, but so is boredom. My life is these four walls, these four walls, a shitty job and this." He picked up his can of beer.

"My naneth used to tell me when I was just an elfling that I should always give myself a cause to smile." Elladan sighed. "When she left I ignored that advice entirely. I haven't smiled since that day. How long has it been since you've smiled Buddy, I mean, truly smiled?"

"When I was a child. Playing in that goddamn wardrobe with India, pretending that it was some portal to somewhere more exciting." Buddy looked to the floor. "Things went downhill after Old Bertie died. When I think I've reached the rock bottom I'll fall another ten feet. All the magic died with him, I think a part of me did too. How about we learn to smile again together elf-boy?"

"That might be a good idea."

* * *

"Did you have fun with Buddy." India asked as Elladan slipped into the passenger's side of her car. She was pleased that he had overcome his distaste for her blue ford and she had even managed to get him to admit that it was slightly more convenient than travelling by horseback. She had taken that as a massive victory. "I hope Buddy didn't tease you too much. He can be ruthless sometimes."

"He didn't tease me. He called me elf boy, which is a rather inaccurate nickname considering I am two-thousand years his senior, but no teasing. He was nice, like you." Elladan spoke honestly, gazing out of the window. India's brows twisted, she loved her brother but had never heard him described as nice, she knew that he had a good heart deep down but he rarely ever showed it to anyone. Elladan must have knocked down a wall or two to gain access to it.

"I'm glad. Buddy has lots of friends, but none that have a good influence on him. It would be good if you two could more spend time with eachother. It's nice for you to have more than just me." India smiled. Elladan turned his gaze on her and held it there for a while, she felt heat rise to her cheeks for every second his eyes lingered on her.

They quickly arrived home and before long they wound up on the sofa together watching some television, yet India wasn't paying it any mind. She had a test tomorrow and was nose-deep in her textbook, studying hard. "It's strange." Elladan spoke during the adverts.

"What's strange?" India reluctantly turned her gaze from her book to Elladan. She hoped he wasn't feeling too talkative as she really needed to get some more studying done. He opened his mouth again.

"You have all this technology and all of these wonderful inventions designed to make your lives more enjoyable and simple, but they don't change anything, not really. There are still people who are unhappy and there are still wars, evil and discontent." Elladan let out a sigh.

"That's pretty deep." India crossed her legs, removing her gaze from her book for another moment. "I thought all you elves did was play harps by waterfalls and enjoy great meals and fine wines.. It seems to me that it would be pretty hard to be unhappy in a place like that." "

"The harp music used to touch my heart and fill me with joy and I used to love Rivendell, love my life - then it all changed." He paused. "I told you about orcs and how they are cruel and savage what I didn't tell you was how I learn of that first-hand. My naneth was going to visit her my grandmother in the Golden Wood, I was to scout and make sure no orcs were near. I fell asleep at my post, fell asleep and when I woke up my mother's carriage was overturned and she was gone."

"They kidnapped her?" India had began to forget about her test tomorrow as Elladan poured his heart out to her.

"Kidnapped her. Tortured her. Beat her. Poisoned her with their tainted blades. When me and my brother found her she wanted nothing more than the Hall of Mandos." Elladan's voice caught in his throat. "We took her straight back home. Our father is an excellent healer and he healed every horrible wound they afflicted her with, but he couldn't heal her soul. I watched her slowly fade from life, all the light slowly drift from her eyes and looking back I think that might have hurt me more than seeing her all bloodied and bruised chained to a tree."

"But she got better right?"

"She was fading and when an elf begins to fade there is little that can be done. My father tried everything but in the end he had no other choice but to put her on a ship to Valinor where she could be healed of her woe." Elladan told her. "I've never seen her since. I had thought that I was fading for a while, letting my bitterness consume me, but then I stumbled out of that wardrobe and I feel different now."

"How so?"

"I feel more alive."

* * *

Elrohir knew what it was to fade. He had saw it in his mother's eyes all of those years back and he had saw it growing in Elladan's slowly over their many decades spent together hunting orcs. Now he saw it within his own grey orbs, the distinct lack of colour and the tiredness that no amount of sleep could sate. Without his brother he felt empty, like his heart was no longer beating in his chest - he was hollow.

He spent much of his time in his room. Arwen would try to speak to him, and at other times Lostariel - Glorfindel's daughter who had been sweet on him since she had reached her majority - but none of them were successful in lightening his mood. All he could think about was his twin, miles away in a foreign land with no quick fix to get home.

"Elrohir. I have already lost one son. I will not lose another." Elrond told him at dinner, concern gleaming in his eyes. Elrohir couldn't bring himself to respond and simply stared at his dinner in silence. "Elladan would not want you to let yourself fade away."

" _We don't always get what we want adar."_


	4. Phone Bill

**IV. Phone Bill**

* * *

Doing the taxes wasn't something that India enjoyed but it was something that she was quite good at. A lifetime of being broke had resulted in her being very good at managing what little money she had and as a result she rarely had to borrow from her parents. This month however was different. Her electricity was the same, her heating, rent, magazine subscriptions - all of them as expected, but her phone bill -

 _Her phone bill was something else._ £1,493.63

She had a heart attack when she saw that figure and had stared at it for a good ten minutes believing that there was a problem with her eyesight. Her eyesight of course was absolutely perfect - £1,493.63, thankfully including VAT. Knowing fine well there was no way she had been on the phone that long, she left her bedroom and made her way through to the living area where Elladan was sat on the couch watching X-Factor.

"Elladan, can we talk for a bit?" India sat on the sofa slowly, feeling a little light-headed from her phone bill fright. He paused the television and turned to face her, with a look of bemusement. "You know how I taught you to use the phone so you could vote for your favourite singer on X-factor?"

"Yes. Kelly, she sings even better than the elf-maiden's back in Rivendell." Elladan chuckled. "If anyone deserves to win it's her."

"How many times did you-" She paused almost frightened to hear the answer. The elf continued to gaze at her expectantly "How many times did you vote for her?"

"I lost track after the fiftieth time." He shrugged. "She got through though. She's in the final now and all she has to do is beat Patricia who can only sing ballads-"

"Elladan you do know that costs me like three pounds every time you call right?"

"Three pounds?"

"Yes, those little round coins that I use to buy us food. I don't know what kind of currency you use in Rivendell, but here we use pounds and-" A guilty expression washed over Elladan's face and India felt her anger leave her.

"I'm really sorry India. I had no idea."

"I know you didn't. I should have told you, it's my fault really." India sighed, slipping her feet up onto the foot rest. She slowly lowered her head to rest on Elladan's shoulder. Sometimes it frightened her, how quickly she'd grown comfortable with her elf. She could scarcely recall a time where he hadn't been squatting in her living room. "We might not be able afford pizza or electricity anymore but we'll make do. I'm pretty sure I've got monopoly in the cupboard and some out of date lentil soup-"

"Would it help if I got a job?" Elladan cut her off.

India was silent for a moment as she considered the gravity of Elladan's offer. _It would help her,_ she couldn't deny that fact. However she couldn't shake the feeling that Elladan wasn't quite ready yet - there was still so much that he didn't know about her world and she was worried that he would get hurt as a result of his ignorance.

"You don't need to Elladan." India told him fluidly. She felt his shoulder tighten and she patted it lightly. "Do you think you're even ready for a job?"

"I'll make myself ready. You've helped me, now let me help you."

* * *

 _Bread, meat, lettuce, cheese, pickles, ketchup, bread._ He had memorized the structure determined that by the end of his first day he would be as good at making burgers as he was at butchering orcs. He realized that was a tall order, his sword had been an extension of his arm and he'd heard it said that he was one of the finest elvish warriors to have ever lived. His spatula on the other hand had nothing in common with his sword and it felt unnatural in his grip, like it didn't belong there.

"Too much lettuce pointy-ears, I know you elves like your rabbit food but us mortals aren't big fans" Buddy told him with a smile on his face. It had been India's brother that had got him the job, _put a good word in for him,_ now he was training him up. Elladan removed some of the lettuce and slammed the bread on top. "Better."

Burger Co. was what India had referred to as a fast food restaurant. According to her the people who came here wanted food that was delivered quickly and cheaply rather than quality food that took a little longer and cost a little more. He could think of no similar thing back home, not even in the mortal settlements he'd visited with the Dunedain where money was tighter and time horribly finite.

It wasn't only the concept of a fast food restaurant that eluded him, but the actual food as well. He'd never seen anything edible look so unnatural, he didn't know what horrified him more the red bricks of meat or the squares of plastic cheese that Buddy insisted were "delicious" The restaurant itself looked like a stables, the floor was greasy and black filth lurked in the gaps between the tiles. Elladan wondered if the customers knew that the food they were receiving was utterly unhygienic in addition to being cheap and efficient. Somehow he highly doubted it.

He ignored the filthy restaurant, and the odd looking meat and focused on working to the best of his ability. He didn't need this job, but India did, and for some reason that motivated him to the ignore all the negative aspects of his new job. She had been good to him and showed him unwavering levels kindness that he seldom saw from mortals, or even other elves for that matter. He figured he owed her.

Before long it was time for his break and he found himself sat in the staff room with Buddy who had taken a burger from the kitchen to eat. Elladan had a salad that India had made him, it was a simple thing, some lettuce, tomatoes and little chunks of chicken - but it reminded him of home in a way that those unnatural burgers he had just spent the morning making never could. "I know you don't like it here 'Dan and I don't either but you'll get used to it." Buddy told him carefully. " _Just like I did."_

"I don't think I'll ever get used to this." He didn't think he'd ever get used to this world either, Elladan sighed, taking a large fork-full of salad and swallowing it in a gulp. "This isn't my world and it's times like these that make me realize it."

"I reckon it's probably normal to feel a little homesick." Buddy mused. "I know it's not the same but when I moved out of my parent's house and into my own flat, I felt like I could never get used to it, but I did, and now I've forgotten what it was like before."

Elladan didn't want to forget Rivendell, orcs, goblins, mordor, all of that he would happily forget, but his twin, his sister, his father, his mother - _no he would never let himself forget them._ He thought of Elrohir, how worried he would have been if the shoe was on the other foot and Elrohir had vanished through a wardrobe. He would have been angry, confused, sad and worried all at once. He wondered if that was how Elrohir was feeling right now, like salt without any pepper to compliment it.

* * *

Lostariel was a fixer, she'd see something broken and she'd fix it. Elrohir was broken but she wasn't sure she could fix him. She'd catch him staring out of the window with empty eyes every now and then and her heart would break a little for him. He was hollow, like a pie with all the filling scooped out. Her father had told her to give up on him, told her over and over that a beautiful elleth like her shouldn't waste her time on someone who would give her nothing but misery.

She didn't want misery, but she wanted Elrohir… and it seemed that those two things came hand in hand. She made her way into his chambers, he was sat on the balcony, grey eyes cold like steel staring out across the mountains and their many waterfalls. She silently sat by his side. "I thought I'd keep you company for a while." She slowly spoke. He turned his gaze to her and nodded slowly, no smile upon his face.

"I'm afraid I'm not very good company Lostariel." Elrohir told her carefully.

Lostariel had never been fond of Elladan, she had always thought him a bad influence on his more level-headed brother and she'd wondered sometimes, if Elrohir would have been better off without him. She had her answer now. _Absolutely not._ Elladan was fire and Elrohir was ice - each needed the other to maintain any sort of balance.

"Arwen misses him. even I miss him… I never thought I'd say that." Lostariel forced herself to chuckle. "You're not alone in your suffering, you should talk to someone, it doesn't have to be me… but…. Promise me you'll talk to someone?"

"Talk to them about what? About how I miss my brother? About how I do not feel whole without him? Lostariel there is nothing to talk about, my soul is growing weary and there is little that I can do to strengthen it." Elrohir's voice was monotone.

"Mithrandir says he could come back, that the magic will reawaken. He is not yet lost, yet you act as though he is..." Lostariel argued. "It strikes me that remaining positive might be in everyone's best interests. It pains me to see you so lifeless -"

"Don't let it pain you. I'm none of your concern." Elrohir shook his head. "Lostariel, you're beautiful, and kind and caring and you deserve an ellon with those same qualities. I'm not that ellon Lostariel. I'm a shadow and shadows belong in the dark."

Lostariel slowly drew to her feet and took her leave of Elrohir's chambers, blowing out his candle on her way. She'd have given anything to see on Elrohir's face, _a smile._

* * *

"How did it go?" India asked, watching as Elladan settled himself in the passenger's seat of her car. He looked adorable in his uniform, the green t-shirt he was wearing had a burger stitched into the breast and on the other side he wore a badge with, Hello, I'm Elladan, written across it. There was a moment of silence while India waited for a response to her question, she noted that he looked miserable.

"It was alright. Buddy taught me how to do everything and it wasn't that difficult when I got the hang of it." Elladan mused. "It just… it made me feel very far away from home. The food is different, the people are different, the kitchen is different."

"You're homesick, it'll wear off soon don't worry." India supported him, keeping her eyes fixed on the road. Her comment didn't seem to cheer Elladan up any and her brow creased with concern. The elf shifted uncomfortably.

"That just it, I don't want it too." Elladan mused. "I'm worried that I'll stop missing home, I'm worried that I'll forget Elrohir and-"

"You won't forget them. You can still want to go home and enjoy living here. You can still love your brother and like playing Call of Duty with Buddy." India chuckled. "I don't know your family but if they're anything like mine, they won't want you to be unhappy. You might be here for years, surely they'd want you to try and smile right?"

"They would. _My naneth would_." His eyes went cloudy and India reached over and ruffled his hair, he looked at her before a strange expression touched his face.

 _A smile._

* * *

 _Thanks for reading! Please review :D_


	5. Nightclubs

**V. Nightclubs**

* * *

Elladan had slowly grown accustomed to his life in India's world to an extent that he had never anticipated. While he didn't enjoy his job at Burger Co, he'd found that over time it had become bearable, he'd even become very proficient in the delicate art of burger construction. The addition of television into his life was a welcome one and he'd waste days at a time watching Spongebob and X-Factor. Then there was Buddy and India - two people that over the course of a few months had become an integral part of his life.

Buddy was a brother to him, but India - well he had no idea what she was to him. A friend, maybe, or a teacher even, but for some reason neither of those titles seemed to fit her. She was India. His India. India who forgave him for spending astronomical amounts of money on second-rate S-factor singers with sob-stories to make his own seem like a barrel of laughs. India who'd laugh whenever he'd forget how to work the toaster but have a gentle gleam in her eye as she did so. India who'd ask him a thousand questions about his world and never seem to grow tired with the answers. She was more than a friend, certainly more than a teacher. India was everything all at once.

"I failed it." She returned from a lecture looking particularly miserable one day. Elladan had been sitting on the sofa watching Countryfile, gazing forlornly at the rolling landscapes. "I can't believe I failed it…"

"That big test you were always speaking about?" Elladan instantly muted the television and turned to face her. She looked miserable. It was his turn to comfort her, like she had done for him so many times over the past four months. "There's more to life than passing tests Indie."

. "Maybe that's true for Riverdale-"

"Rivendell." Elladan corrected softly. India plonked herself beside him and dropped her head to her hands, the elf cautiously lowered his arm and awkwardly rubbed at her back. "You failed one test. That doesn't mean you've failed at life. In my book… you'll always be a winner."

"Where'd you get that pep talk from?" India chuckled and Elladan breathed a sigh of relief that he'd managed to lighten her mood even a little. "It was kind of a big deal this test… a chance to prove that I was smart enough. I studied really hard, I did my best and it still wasn't good enough."

"So… you failed...Psycholor-" Elladan tried to pronounce the strange subject that India was studying but cut himself off when he realized he had no hope. It was something to do with minds, that was all he knew. "Maybe mind-reading isn't your thing, but there is other things you're good at-"

"Like what? Teaching elves how to work toasters?" She laughed. Another laugh. Laughing was good. Laughing was what Elladan was going for.

"Amongst other things." Elladan joined in with her. "You've done more than teach me how to work a toaster though haven't you? You've made me feel at home somewhere that I really shouldn't. You've made me smile."

"You've made me smile too." India caught his gaze and a soft expression overcame her. "You're a pain in the ass, an expensive one as well but-"

"But what?" Elladan pressed her, grinning.

"But I enjoy having you around 'Dan." India told him "Why don't we go out for a drink tonight, take my mind off my failed test?"

"Like out to a tavern?"

"Yes Elladan, _out to a tavern_."

* * *

"Why is there so many people here?" Elladan's voice rose amongst the clatter of the nightclub. India clutched at his hand frightened that she would lose him forever amongst the crowds of rowdy students. She was starting to think that bringing him here was a dire mistake. "Indie - Indie I really don't like it here, the lights, the music… the people - hey watch it!"

She turned around to see Elladan recovering from being bumped into, his brows deepened in irritance. He squeezed her fingers and allowed her to guide him to a pair of recently vacated seats in a dim corner. She took her purse out of her clutch and set it beside him.

"This isn't like any tavern I've ever been to." Elladan looked at her pleadingly.

"You'll get used to it. Just stay right here while I go and get us some drinks. Don't move an inch and if anyone strange tries talking to you there is a pepper spray in my cltuch just spray it in their face." India spoke jokingly. Elladan's eyes widened but she didn't stick around long enough to explain to him what a pepper spray was and why it was useful in a place like this.

She slipped through the crowds to the bar, casting a backwards glance at Elladan every two seconds to make sure he was alright. She worried about him, just like she worried about Buddy… but in a different way. A way she couldn't quite put her finger on, a way she was almost frightened to.

"Peach Schnapps with Lemonade and.-" She thought about what Elladan might like, he spoke about elvish wines and dwarvish mead. She wondered what her world's alternatives were. "A pint of lager."

A safe decision, _conservative._ The bartender wasted no time in gathering the drinks and India slipped her money into his palm before heading back to the seats where Elladan was sat twiddling with his thumbs. She slipped the drink into his hand and he took a grudging sip from it. "It tastes like… like very ill-matured mead." He complained, but took another sip regardless.

"I didn't know what to get you, alcohol I'm afraid is another thing this world does not share with yours." India took a long gulp from her own drink. Usually her friends would have dragged her up for a dance, but she didn't think dancing was Elladan's thing. The only dancing she'd heard him speak about was… t _he artful dance of the swordsman._ She chuckled at the thought.

"I don't see the point of this place." Elladan shouted over the noise. "It's too loud to have a conversation. I can't even think for that valar-awful music."

"Most people aren't here to have conversation 'Dan. They've come here to dance their troubles away." She shouted back.

"And do you?" He paused. "Want to dance your troubles away?"

"I'm not against it." She replied cautiously. Elladan downed what was left of his drink and took her hand for a change, drawing her to her feet. "What are you doing, do elves even dance?" She laughed.

"I was a very good dancer back in Rivendell I'll have you know. At the Autumn's Harvest just last year all of the elvish maidens were tripping over their own feet for an opportunity to dance with Lord Elladan Elrondion."

India laughed and Elladan joined in with the sound. She watched as he looked around cautiously at the other dancers and his brows knitted together as if not quite understanding the random movement.

"...Grant you the dancing wasn't quite like this back home…" He trailed off.

"It's the same principle isn't it? Graceful movements, feeling the music in your soul.." India coaxed him. "Just follow my lead."

"Usually the ellon leads the elleth." Elladan whispered as he shakily mimicked her movements. He didn't seemed to be enjoying it thus far.

"I'm not an elleth am I?" India spoke carefully. "And you Lord Elladan Elrondion right here in this nightclub with this valar-awful music around you are not an ellon - you're just a man out dancing his troubles away."

"Of which I have many." He was starting to get the hang of it. She felt a little proud as she noticed how well he seemed to fit in with the rest of the men on the dancefloor. "I want another drink. I'll pay this time,what do you want?"

"Vodka and cola. Are you alright asking yourself?" She was concerned. He was like a child - she didn't want to leave him alone.

"Course. I'm two thousand years old, not two." He defended. A girl overhearing that comment turned to face him with wide-eyes, but was distracted by what must have been her favourite song. "I'll be two minutes."

India watched him vanish off and ignored the worry building within her. He could look after himself, she'd taught him well.

It was ten minutes later when he still hadn't returned that the worry become something she couldn't easily ignore. Her heart thumping, she pushed herself out of the crowds of dancing students and made her way towards the bar. He was nowhere to be seen. "Elladan, where the hell did you go." She spoke to herself like a crazed person. "Stupid elf."

A further five-minutes of frantic searching and she finally found him, two drinks in his hand talking to a pretty blonde. Her eyes narrowed. Mortal, Immortal. Elf, Human. It seemed they had pretty blondes in common.

"India - this is India. She's the kindest person I've ever met." Elladan pointed to India as soon as she fell into sight. The pretty blonde turned to face her. "India this … what was your name? Ah… that's right. Hayley…"

"Elladan I think we should head now." India felt an indescribable feeling stir within her as she stared coldly at the pretty blonde.

"When you're finished with that plain one… well here's a little something for you." Hayley slipped a piece of paper into Elladan's hand before walking off, hips shaking as she went. Elladan looked wide-eyed at India.

"She called you plain… you're not plain India." He assured her. He looked at the piece of paper in his hands. "Is this a mobile number?"

"Yes. Elladan." India smiled. He was so innocent - she knew he wasn't of course, he was a ruthless killer - but in her world, in her mind he was.

"I don't want it." He threw it to the ground and India felt her heart warm. "She called you plain…" He murmured.

"Why don't we drink these and head?" India gestured to her drink.

Elladan nodded firmly.

* * *

"She was plainer than you." Elladan continued on as they walked home, his jackets over India's shoulders. Something about Hayley's comment seemed to have bothered him immensely. "Her eyes were a nice enough blue… but they weren't… they weren't as pretty as your green ones."

"Why are you still going on about that?" India laughed, with a little rose-tint on her cheeks. Elladan looked to his feet.

"Because you're my friend and I didn't like the way she spoke to you." Elladan defended. "And I just wanted you to know that I don't agree."

"I hear you, I don't necessarily agree with you." India laughed. "You know a lot of people were staring at you in that club, I sometimes forget that you're really handsome, that's part of being an elf isn't it, good looks?"

"I've heard it said that elves are naturally more beautiful than mortals." Elladan shrugged his shoulders. "But where I come from everyone's the same really. We all have the same creamy skin and most of us in Rivendell have the same dark hair. Beauty isn't as special when everyone looks the same way. You mortals have imperfections, little blemishes and freckles that make a person unique - make them stand out."

"I supposed I didn't look at it that way before." India shrugged.

"You have a gap between your front two teeth, like a rabbit." He pointed out and India narrowed her eyes. Not exactly a compliment, but she would take it. "Your hair's a mess when you wake up in the morning, like a nest that's been blown about in the wind once too many times and your left eye, well it's a little lower than your right and your bottom lips is thicker than your-"

"That was sweet how you started but now you're just insulting me." India smirked, Elladan brushed her off and continued.

"- You have green eyes, but in the centre, just by the pupil on your right one there is a little fleck of gold where it shouldn't be." He finished. "So you're not plain. You could never be plain. I see a thousand imperfections when I look at you and each one… _each one is perfect."_

India felt a tear in that gold-flecked right eye.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! I've noticed I seem to mention eyebrows a lot when describing Elladan like "Elladan's brows deepened" but I honestly feel like a son of Elrond would probably have some pretty emotive eyebrows! :D**

 **I have another fanfiction up for Harry Potter called "The Marauder" so if you're a potterhead like me, you should check it out! As always thanks so much for reading and please leave a little review!**


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